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On July 22/August 4, the Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene—the heavenly patron of the Head of the Imperial House of Russia, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.

On the morning of this important and holy day, a Divine Liturgy was served at the church of the Presentation of the Mother of God at Saltykov Bridge in Moscow by Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets), the chief of the Office for Historical and Commemorative Events in the Chancellery of the Imperial House of Russia.  That evening an intercessory prayer service, or moleben, was served according to royal rubrics for the health of Her Imperial Highness and for her son and heir, H.I.H. The Tsesarevich and Grand Duke George of Russia.

Concelebrating with Hieromonk Nikon were clergy from around Russia: Hieromonk Maksim (Odnoral), from the Melekess eparchy; Hierodeacon Sofronii (Mikhalsky), from the Arkhangelsk eparchy; Deacon Alexander Kulikov (from the Moscow region); and Deacon Andrei Yatskov (of the church of the Presentation of the Mother of God).

Attending the service were:  members of Her Imperial Highness’s Chancellery, including its Director, Alexander N. Zakatov; the President of the International Slavic Academy of Sciences, Education, Arts and Culture, S. N. Baburin; veteran journalist and First Deputy General Director of the news agency “Interfax,” V. K. Terekhov; the official representative of the Office of the President of the Transnistrian-Moldavian Republic in H.I.H.’s Chancellery, A. B. Kravchenko; a delegation from the Russian Nobility Assembly, led by its President, O. V. Shcherbachev; a delegation from the organization “For Faith and Fatherland,” led by K. R. Kasimovsky; the editor-in-chief of the Internet portal “Good people” [Dobrye liudi], V. E. Yakobidze; other leaders and members of various civic and social organizations; and parishioners of the church.

At the end of the service, Hieromonk Nikon greeted all those in attendance with a brief sermon, during which he noted that repentance for the sin of violating the vow of the Great Local Church Council and Assembly of the Land of 1613 should include, first and foremost, faithful service to the Russian Imperial House of Romanoff, which has been and remains the guardian of the ideals and traditions of Orthodox Monarchy “from generations unto generations.”

Then the director of the H.I.H.’s Chancellery, Alexander N. Zakatov, and the King of Arms in the Chancellery, Stanislaw V. Dumin, presided over a brief investiture ceremony for those receiving Imperial Orders and other awards.

A traditional commemorative meal, or trapeza, concluded the day’s events.